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Award winning PR campaigns
Attention grabbing podcasts & DVDs
Osprey Communications is an award winning public relations agency. We won the Gold Award for the North West's Outstanding Small Consultancy in 2007 from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
We were praised by judges at the 2006 awards and also won a Gold Award in 2005.
Our recent and existing clients have included blue chip companies, medium sized businesses and public sector organisations covering a wide range of sectors including:
Further information about our client base is available on request.
Case Studies
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TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
We have significantly raised the profile of one of the country’s leading attractions, Muncaster Castle in the Lake District.
At the 2006 Chartered Institute of Public Relations awards in the North West the judges praised the work we had done to promote Halloween and other ghost related events at Muncaster Castle. They said it was ‘a dream campaign, delivered with imagination, fun and a real knack for getting under the skin of the story. Osprey’s team showed just how powerful good PR can be. The results were astounding, with simple objectives producing striking and very tangible results. Osprey turned an amusing local venue story into cracking national and international coverage.”
We also won a Gold Award from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2005 for another of the campaigns we ran for the Castle. We devised a jester competition to highlight the fact that Muncaster was home to the original Tom Fool. The judges commented: “A simple theme and beautifully executed! Osprey created a central platform and worked hard to exploit every possible angle. To deliver the level of TV, radio and regional media coverage that Osprey managed to secure was a real achievement.”
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The jester competition is now part of a six day Festival of Fools at Muncaster. In 2008 we suggested creating a new competition to find The North of England's Best New Stand-up Comedian as part of the Cabaret @ The Castle event which kicks of the Festival. Two women reached the final of the competition, which was won by Rebecca Taylor from Sale in Cheshire. To see highlights of the competition which we filmed click here. |
In 2007 we created a presence for the Castle in the virtual world Second Life. You can see a short film about the new Muncaster here.
Since January 2008 we have also been working for The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction in Bowness-on-Windermere. We started by promoting the North of England's biggest Easter Egg Hunt, which had been created by the Attraction with the help of Cumbria Tourism and publishers Frederick Warne. The Jemima Puddle-Duck Easter Egg Hunt took place all over Cumbria and we got media coverage in a wide range of national, regional and local media.
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HELPING HOTELS HIT THE HEADLINES
We also do the public relations for a number of hotels in Cumbria and Lancashire.
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We have secured significant coverage for Lindeth Howe Country House House Hotel, which was once owned by Beatrix Potter. Our work has lead to around 20 features in national and regional publications as well as many other news items. |
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We created a lot of media interest for a story about the ultimate luxury picnic at Storrs Hall on the shores of Lake Windermere. The picnic included items like Foie Gras, Beluga Caviar and an exotic trifle with real gold leaf shavings. The story was covered in several national newspapers as well as on three regional TV news programmes.
Colin Fox, the Group Marketing Manager for English Lakes Hotels, says “Working with Osprey Communications has proved to be an extremely beneficial part of our marketing strategy as they have continued to be creative and enthusiastic in all aspects of PR which they have handled for us. Unlike other companies we have used the past they do not run out of these ideas and lose that all important enthusiasm after the initial few months of work and we expect to work together long into the future.”
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In 2007 we worked with one client to arrange a trip Around the Lakes in 80 Ways for Red Nose Day. The journey raised money for the charity and highlighted the different activities this corporate training and events company can make available. |
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EVENTS AND FESTIVALS
We have experience promoting a wide range of events and festivals across the Lake District and other parts of Cumbria including the FRED outdoor art festival (over the last three years), the Mintfest street art festival in Kendal, Cumbria Bike Fest and the Taste District food and drink festival. We have secured a large amount of positive coverage in media across the UK with features in publications such as the Daily Telegraph, Times Online and the Manchester Evening News; listings in national, regional and local media; news items in media such as The Guardian and the Newcastle Journal; and TV coverage at a national and a regional level.
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Steve Messam, the Director of the FRED art festival, said after this year's event: "Thanks again for a fantastic job with the PR this year. The whole team send their appreciation.
"Having worked with a number of PR companies in the North, I can safely say I'm glad we spend our money with you. It's been said by some of the journalists too. You have many fans out there."
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We did the PR for the Cumberland Ale Keswick Mountain Festival which took place in May 2008. When local chef Peter Sidwell said he wanted to hold a high level meal as part of the Festival we suggested going all the way to the top of Skiddaw, one of England's highest mountains. The meal was covered by The Guardian, BBC Look North, ITV Border and a host of papers both in Cumbria and around the country. Altogether we got more than 150 pieces of coverage for the event in national, regional and local media.
 
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CREATIVE CAMPAIGNS FOR ONE OF THE UK's TOP DESTINATIONS
Paul Gardner produced a number of creative campaigns while he was the Public Relations Manager at Cumbria Tourist Board. This included selling a bottle of Lakeland Air on eBay and creating a Baarmy Sheep ringtone to rival the Crazy Frog. These campaigns secured extensive coverage,
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including parts of the media that travel PR often does not reach. There were items on television programmes such as GMTV, CD:UK, and regional television news; radio coverage such as the World Service, Radio 5 Live and numerous local radio stations; and newspapers ranging from the Daily Telegraph, Daily Express to the Sun. |
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in the North West awarded the campaigns a Silver Award in 2005 describing them as ‘really creative yet simple ideas that tapped into current consumer obsessions’ that worked ‘hard through all media channels’ and provided ‘brilliant value for money and great results.’
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PROMOTING FORESTRY & THE ENVIRONMENT
We have achieved a significant increase in coverage for the Forestry Commission in the North West of England. This has included both regional and national coverage on television and radio as well as a wide range of newspapers. We are now also working for the Forestry Commission in the West Midlands.
Example
We got Julia Haworth, an actress on Coronation Street, to provide a quote saying why real Christmas trees are better than fakes and to do a photo shoot with a Forestry Commission Christmas tree on the Coronation Street set. The aim was to publicise sales of the Forestry Commission's environmentaly friendly Christmas tree sales at Delamere and more generally in the North West. The story got very good coverage including the Daily Star, the Manchester Evening News and the Chester Chronicle.
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RAISING THE PROFILE OF TOURISM & CONSERVATION
Since producing a communications plan for the Tourism & Conservation Partnership in Cumbria we have been helping the organisation to raise its profile across the county. Coverage has included regional TV news, local radio and newspapers across Cumbria.
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PROMOTING THE NORTH OF ENGLAND'S LEADING FOOD RETAILER
We do public relations for Booths, which has 26 stores in Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Cheshire. Our work is aimed at helping to attract new customers as well as keeping existing customers informed about new developments.
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We suggested a Booths Grow Your Own competition for schools as part of the Year of Food and Farming. The competition has attracted over 50 entries with the final in July.
Matthew Bruno from Booths says: "It is important that all children have a healthy, balanced diet and growing fruit and vegetables is a fun and easy way for children of all ages to learn about how things grow and where tehir food comes from. Booths is keen to suppport schools and encourage sourcing local produce wherever possible." |
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PROMOTING THE FOOD AND CRAFT SECTOR IN CUMBRIA
We have been working for Made in Cumbria since March 2008 to help promote the work they do as as well as raising the profile of their members in the food and drink sector.
We have secured coverage for Made In Cumbria's link up with shopping channel QVC to create a new programme Taste of the Lakes. It is the first programme to sell food from from an English region and the pilot in April was a great success, with sales of nearly £30,000. Another programme has now being scheduled for August.
We have also been helping to promote the campaign to win protected status for the Traditional Cumberland Sausage under the European Union's Protected Food Name Scheme. When farmer Peter Gott took the campaign to Trafalgar Square we made a short 'news' film about his visit (to watch click here). We also suggested a Traditional Cumberland Sausage Day in July and have created a Traditional Cumberland Sausage website - www.traditional cumberlandsausage.com.
 
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DRAWING IN THE CROWDS TO A FOOD FESTIVAL
We got significant coverage for the Taste District Food and Drink Festival in Cumbria in October 2006 both in local and national publications.
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PROVIDING STRATEGIC ADVICE IN THE REGENERATION SECTOR
Osprey Communications produced a Communications Strategy for Rural Regeneration Cumbria. The organisation’s Chief Executive commented that: “I was impressed how quickly Osprey Communications developed an in depth understanding of our organisation, the work we do and our audiences. Their report and the advice they have given will enable us to make a significant improvement in the way we communicate with key stakeholders.”
We have also done public relations work for another regeneration body, Cumbria Vision.
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CRISIS PR & MEDIA TRAINING IN THE HEALTH SECTOR
Osprey Communications has recently been working with a blue chip company in the health sector to help prepare a crisis PR strategy. As well as advising on how to respond to the problem we also provided media training for senior executives. Having worked closely with John Humphrys at the BBC, Paul Gardner is well placed to predict what kind of questions journalists are likely to ask and how to handle a difficult interview.
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STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ADVICE & MEDIA TRAINING
We have worked with Portcullis Public Affairs to prepare senior executives in a number of blue chip companies, mainly in the health sector, for appearances before parliamentary select committees in London and Edinburgh and for meetings with Government ministers.
Berkeley Greenwood, the Managing Director of Portcullis Public Affairs, said: “The work Osprey Communications has done with us has been absolutely invaluable. Their ability to get across a brief very quickly is second to none. They have an excellent grasp of how best to get over a positive message and also how a client should respond to criticisms.”
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PODCASTING
Paul Gardner has produced a number of podcasts for Cumbria Tourist Board. Paul was one of the first people to start producing podcasts to promote a tourism destination in the UK. They include a guide to some of the main things to see and do around Windermere, interviews with Jean Christophe Novelli and Ben Fogle, a guide to a walk and a personal view of the destination by a local celebrity resident. For further information see the Cumbria Tourist Board podcasts.
He is also producing a number of podcasts for a campaign by England's North Country to promote the region in the Unites States. Podcast interviews with Peter Frost Pennington on Muncaster Castle, Simon Howard on Castle Howard and the Duchess of Northumberland on Alnwick Castle and gardens can be found on the England's North Country section of the Be a Brit different website.
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MAKING VIDEOS & DVDs
Eric Robson made a very successful film for a National Park to explain the organisation’s work. Unusually for a corporate production, the film was shown on TV. The video traces the unique link between man and landscape that makes the area such a special place.
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Paul Gardner produced a number of short films for a Tourist Board. A number of short 1’ films were made to enhance the Tourist Board’s websites. In addition, several films between 2’ and 4’ were created for use at exhibitions. The aim was to provide potential visitors with a taste of the visual feast that the area has to offer. |
